Rise in global Volkswagen sales

Car sales for Volkswagen vehicles were up by 13.1% in 2011 compared with the previous year, the German manufacturer has revealed.

A record demand for its vehicles saw Europe's largest car maker sell a total of 5.1 million worldwide.

In Volkswagen's largest markets, China and Europe, 1.72 million cars were sold in each. The European market saw a 11.2% increase in growth and China steamed ahead with a 13.8% growth rate.

A huge rise was reported in North America, where sales rose by 26.3% to almost half a million cars. However, the largest increases of all were found in smaller markets. For instance, India reported a 151% rise to 76,100 and Russia saw a 100% increase to 118,000.

At the lower end was South America, where car sales increased by only 2.2%.